Hi! We are Valerie and Brittany of Little Sous Chef. We both have a love for cooking, baking and our children. We decided to combine these loves and Little Sous Chef was born!
As moms, we want to engage our children in helping us cook our daily meals. Delicious meals that everyone will enjoy—not just kids. But it is more than just cooking. It is teaching children to love cooking, to cook safely, and to grow in confidence as they create food they are proud of. We also want to provide a wonderful environment for adults to engage in a hands-on activity with children where both child and adult are learning and enjoying the process together.
Our recipes are unique in that they use our LSC “kid friendly” format. It is designed for parents to use with their child(ren). It provides step-by-step instructions specifying which steps are for the Chef (adult) and which ones are for the Little Sous Chef (child) to do with the help and supervision of the Chef.
As summer is quickly coming to an end, we are enjoying every second with our little ones before some of them have to go back to school. Here are a few of our favorite summer recipes that we hope you and your littles can enjoy together!
Mini Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches
1 cup butter, at room temperature
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips (I prefer mini chocolate chips)
ice cream (any desired flavor)
sprinkles (optional)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Pour butter and sugars into the bowl of a mixer. Cream together.
Add eggs.
- Add vanilla and stir to combine.
- Add 1 cup flour, baking soda and salt. Stir to combine.
- Add remaining flour and stir until just combined.
- Add chocolate chips and gently stir until combined.
Using a mini scoop, scoop out cookies onto a double stacked cookie sheet. (Double stacking the cookie sheets prevents the bottoms of the cookies from browning and turning crunchy.)
Bake for 8-11 minutes. Cookies should still be completely white and NOT have golden edges. I usually decrease my bake time by one minute after each sheet that is baked.
Remove cookies from cookie sheets and let cool completely.
Pour sprinkles onto small plate and set aside.
Once cookies are cooled, scoop 1 regular sized scoop of ice cream onto a cookie and top with another cookie. Squish the cookies together a little bit so that the sandwich is secure and so that the ice cream squishes out the sides a little bit.
- Carefully roll the sides of the sandwich in the sprinkles.
- Place in a container and put container in the freezer.
- Do one sandwich at a time, placing each one in the freezer as you go so that they don’t melt.
Keep sandwiches in freezer until ready to serve. You can individually wrap them in plastic wrap if you are not going to eat them right away.
Blackberry Cake Cobbler
½ cup butter
2 cups blackberries (fresh or frozen)
1 ¼ cup sugar, divided
1 cup flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Melt butter. Set aside.
- Rinse blackberries, pat dry and set aside.
- Pour 1 cup sugar, flour, salt and baking powder into a mixing bowl. Whisk to combine.
- Add milk and vanilla. Whisk to combine.
- Add melted butter and whisk until combined.
Spray a 9x13 inch or 3 quart baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
- Pour batter into prepared baking dish.
- Evenly sprinkle blackberries over batter.
- Sprinkle remaining ¼ cup sugar evenly over the top.
Bake for one hour or until cobbler is lightly golden. The longer it bakes the more visible the blackberries should become on top.
Serve warm or cool with whipped cream and/or vanilla ice cream.
Banana Pina Colada Popsicles
1 banana
1 can pineapple chunks (undrained)
¼ cup cream of coconut (plus more to taste)
1 lime
fresh fruit (we like to do a combination of berries)
Directions:
- Pour banana, pineapple chunks and cream of coconut into a blender.
- Zest lime and add to blender.
- Juice the lime and add lime juice to the blender.
- Blend until smooth.
Pour into popsicle molds.
Add fruit to each mold.
Cover with foil.
Carefully poke popsicle sticks into each mold.
Freeze for a few hours or until popsicles are completely frozen.
Remove from freezer and allow popsicles to sit for a few minutes until you can easily remove each popsicle from the molds.
Mini M&M Peanut Butter Cake Mix Cookies
1 yellow cake mix
2 eggs
½ cup creamy peanut butter
¼ cup butter, melted
¼ cup water
1 cup mini M&M’s
LSC Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Pour cake mix into a mixing bowl.
Add eggs and peanut butter.
- Add melted butter and water.
- Stir until combined.
- Add mini M&M’s and stir until combined.
Using a mini cookie scoop, scoop out bite sized cookies onto a double stacked cookie sheet. (Double stacking prevents the bottoms of the cookies from browning and turning crunchy)
Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cookies should be soft. Don’t let the edges turn golden.
Gooey S’mores Brownies
1 box regular family size brownie mix (plus ingredients on package directions)
4-5 graham crackers
4 Hershey chocolate bars
16 large marshmallows
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray a glass baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Make sure to use a glass baking dish and spray it really good. Metal does not work as well for these brownies.
- Pour brownie mix into a mixing bowl.
- Add ingredients according to package directions and stir until combined.
- Pour half of the brownie batter into prepared baking dish.
- Top with graham crackers.
- Top with chocolate bars.
- Top with marshmallows. (Evenly space marshmallows not placing them too close to the edges. If the marshmallows touch the edges it’s harder to get the brownies out once baked.)
- Pour remaining brownie batter on top over the marshmallows.
Bake 45-50 minutes. Let cool completely. Cut into squares and serve.